A collection of top water news from around California and the West compiled each weekday. Send any comments or article submissions to Foundation News & Publications Director Chris Bowman.
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The Biden administration is finalizing a policy first proposed
in 2015 that aims to protect tens of thousands of federally
funded construction projects from heightened flooding caused by
climate change. Starting Sept. 9, public infrastructure that’s
rebuilt after a disaster with money from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency will have to be elevated at least 2 feet
above the local flood level. Projects include police stations,
schools, sewer plants, roads and bridges. The final rule being
announced by the White House on Wednesday marks a long-delayed
victory for environmental, taxpayer and insurance groups that
have sought to strengthen building standards in flood-prone
areas. It took nearly a decade and spanned three presidencies,
including a period of opposition during former President Donald
Trump’s administration.
Lawmakers from both parties have introduced legislation in
Congress after three Arizona tribal nations came together to
successfully negotiate a sweeping Indian water settlement. …
The settlement will resolve the most significant outstanding
water claims in Arizona and bring water to residents of the
Navajo, Hopi and Southern San Juan Paiute tribes, among many
other benefits. Leaders say it’s critical to move the
legislation forward, not only because of the political
situation, but because talks are underway to reduce water use
on the Colorado River. … The legislation will
authorize $5 billion in federal funding for water
infrastructure on the sovereign territories of the Navajo
Nation, the Hopi Tribe, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe,
the largest water project for an Indian settlement.
Thanks to Hetch Hetchy, [San Francisco] has some of the
cleanest tap water across California. But for nearly 1 million
people statewide, healthy drinking water remains out of
reach. … Experts and advocates who spoke to The
Examiner unanimously used one word to describe the most
pertinent solution to address the water issues plaguing the
state: consolidation. In other words, getting big
municipalities with access to dense water resources to absorb
smaller, struggling water systems. … There are currently more
than 7,000 water systems throughout the state, which is, in
itself, a major part of the problem, the experts said, and why
2% of the population lacks clean drinking water access. … San
Francisco is, in some ways, the poster child for the difference
it makes when a large population is served by a consolidated
water system. The City’s water is managed by a single public
utility, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
… And, for nearly 100 years, San Franciscans have
received their drinking water almost exclusively from Hetch
Hetchy Reservoir, a rich snowmelt-fed body of water in the
Yosemite Valley. … San Francisco is one of just five
water systems that has not received a failing report since the
state began evaluating them in 2017.
The Assembly Select Committee on Permitting Reform held its
first hearing on June 18, 2024, commencing its efforts to
address California’s housing and climate crises by reforming
the state’s land use permitting regime. … At the first
hearing, panelists from academia, government, and industry
shared their perspectives on California’s permitting process
… The panelists offered recommendations to address state and
local permitting obstacles. Panelists also identified issues
with current California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
requirements. … Marissa Mitchell, head of environmental
permitting for Intersect Power, commented that CEQA
counterintuitively requires solar developers to mitigate
impacts to farmland that is subject to water restrictions
imposed through the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and
already slated to be fallowed.
Farmers who grow hay in the Imperial Valley will soon be
eligible to receive cash payments in exchange for temporarily
shutting off water to their fields for up to two months this
year. Under a program approved by the board of the Imperial
Irrigation District, farmers can now apply for federal funds to
compensate them for harvesting less hay as part of an effort to
ease strains on the Colorado River. Paying growers to
leave fields dry and fallow for part of the year represents a
major new step by the district to help boost the levels of the
river’s reservoirs, which have been depleted by chronic
overuse, years of drought and higher temperatures caused
by climate change. The Imperial Irrigation District delivers
the single largest share of the Colorado River’s water to
farmlands that produce hay for cattle as well as many of the
country’s vegetables. District officials … say the approach
is aimed at avoiding longer-term fallowing of crops that would
take farmland out of production and bring a heavier blow to
food production and the area’s economy.
A massive fish die-off has closed a popular lake and recreation
area in Monterey County amid speculation by state officials
that warming water caused the kill. Lake San Antonio, a county
park in southern Monterey County, was closed Tuesday as crews
deal with the removal of up to hundreds of thousands of
freshwater fish of multiple species that have washed up against
the shoreline. Among the species in the die-off are trout,
carp, crappie and bass, including one 4-pound trophy
bass. The water is being tested in an attempt to
determine the cause. A preliminary indication is oxygen
depletion due to warm water, according to the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Biden administration pushed out a flurry of major
environmental rules early this year under a looming threat of
rollbacks if former President Donald Trump clinches the White
House in November’s election. But some significant rules won’t
get out the door in time to shield them from being reversed if
Trump wins, a reality that was on stark display last week when
the Biden administration released its plans for upcoming
regulations. … Earlier this year, Biden’s agencies
finished a series of significant regulations, including a
high-stakes power plant rule on climate pollution, a policy
governing conservation of public lands and drinking water
standards for some members of the “forever chemicals” family
known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. … EPA
is expected to roll out a revised lead and copper rule for
drinking water systems, which would trigger action sooner to
reduce lead exposure and require lead pipes to be replaced
within 10 years. That rule isn’t expected to be
completed until October.
Practical solutions to California’s energy and water shortages
will always have a better chance of being implemented if they
adhere to the limitations placed upon them by those concerned
about climate change. A solution that should work for everyone
is forest thinning. … It turns out that forest
thinning also reduces the amount of water that is immediately
taken up by the roots of overcrowded trees and undergrowth and
transpired into the atmosphere. Instead, more of this water can
run off into tributaries or percolate to recharge springs. How
much water? A 2011 study by experts from the University of
California, Merced, and UC Berkeley … reports that 60% of the
state’s consumptive water comes in the form of Sierra runoff,
and when forest cover is reduced by 40%, total runoff increases
by an estimated 9%. … if California’s forests were
thinned appropriately, 2.2 million acre-feet of water would be
added to California’s water supply in an average year. — written by Edward Ring, senior fellow with the
California Policy Center and author of the “The Abundance
Choice: Our Fight for More Water in California.”
The California Energy Commission [Wednesday] unanimously
approved a sweeping plan to develop a massive floating offshore
wind industry in ocean waters — a first-of-its-kind undertaking
that will require billions in public and private investments
and could transform parts of the coast. The new state plan sets
the path for harnessing wind power from hundreds of giant
turbines, each as tall as a 70-story building, floating in the
ocean about 20 miles off Humboldt Bay and Morro Bay. The
untapped energy is expected to become a major power source as
California electrifies vehicles and switches to clean energy.
California’s wind farms represent a giant experiment: No other
place in the world has floating wind operations in such deep
waters — more than a half-mile deep — so far from shore.
The commission’s vote today came after representatives of
various industries, environmentalists, community leaders and
others mostly expressed support for offshore wind, although
some voiced concerns.
A private company supported by global investors bought nearly
500 acres of land in a tiny Arizona town and sold its water
rights to a Phoenix suburb for a $14 million
profit. … Greenstone Resource Partners LLC
bought agricultural land in Cibola, Arizona (population around
200), and sold the water rights to suburban Queen Creek, known
for lush golf courses and resort pools. Water previously used
to irrigate Cibola farms now flows through a canal to provide
water to master-planned communities over 200 miles
away. … Greenstone bought farmland about a decade ago,
but it was actually part of an investment plan to divert water
from the area for profit. … “I’m afraid we’ve opened
Pandora’s box,” Holly Irwin, a local county supervisor, said
about the Greenstone deal, per the Guardian. Companies like
Greenstone, tied to real estate developers and big banks, now
have a precedent to falsely pose as farms and take water away
from people living on the land.
A new study by scientists at Utah State University shows that a
shrinking Great Salt Lake may exacerbate drought conditions
along the entire Wasatch Front. “As the Great Salt Lake
water body is shrinking, that local precipitation caused by a
storm event is going to decrease,” Dr. Wei Zhang, an associate
professor of climate science at USU and one of the study’s
authors, told FOX 13 News on Monday. Using a series of
meteorological models as a case study, USU researchers found
that, in essence, the shrinking Great Salt Lake can create its
own vicious cycle of drought. … The Great Salt Lake is
famous for its ability to amplify storms. “Lake-effect snow”
can pump out more snow in the mountains and boost Utah’s
lucrative ski industry.
California’s Eel River got its modern name from the swarms of
Pacific lamprey that once plowed up and down its length, but
it’s more famous for its wild steelhead and salmon –– and,
unfortunately, for the dramatic decline in those fisheries over
the past century. Trout Unlimited has been working over
the past 25 years to improve habitat and fish passage for
steelhead and salmon in the Eel watershed, much of which
remains largely intact. Two recent developments in which TU has
played a major role should dramatically improve the prospects
for wild salmon and steelhead in California’s third largest
river system. The first is that Pacific Gas & Electric,
the utility that owns two old hydropower dams on the river, has
agreed to remove them. … The second is that the North Coast
Regional Water Quality Control Board recently approved a
proposal to designate two important tributaries to the Eel’s
south fork as Outstanding National Resource Waters
(ONRW).
Bay Area cities and counties will soon have to make major
upgrades to their aging wastewater facilities to comply with
new regulations that aim to protect the San Francisco Bay from
harmful algal blooms. The upgrades are estimated to cost $11
billion across the region — an average increase for
ratepayers of $200 per year per household. The new
regulations are expected to be finalized at Wednesday’s meeting
of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.
… The need for the upgrades became clear, regulators say,
after major algal blooms in the bay over the past two summers
turned the water rust red and killed tens of thousands of fish.
Nutrients found in wastewater — especially nitrogen which
comes from human urine and other types of waste — are
major contributors to algal blooms. And algal blooms are more
likely to happen as water temperatures and other conditions
change in the bay with global warming.
The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has finalized
a rule mandating that projects built using its funds not only
take into account previous and current levels of local flood
risk, but for the first time consider the future risk of
flooding, which is being exacerbated by climate change. Federal
officials said that the updated Federal Flood Risk Management
Standard — which will be published Thursday and will go into
effect Sept. 9 — is set to make communities more resilient and
save taxpayers money by preventing repeat building of
vulnerable structures in flood zones. The rule will not affect
rates in FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program.
The issue of water — who gets it, how much they get and what
happens when Mother Nature doesn’t provide enough — is not a
new conflict in the Intermountain West. Lake Powell in Glen
Canyon National Park is the link in the multistate system that
feeds the Colorado River from the upper basin states to its
lower basin counterparts. In its trip, the Colorado River
water, mainly provided by snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains,
travels through the upper basin states comprising Colorado,
Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico. It then flows through Lake Powell
down to Lake Mead, feeding the lower basin states: Nevada,
Arizona and California. … In their post-2026 operations
proposal, the lower basin states said they would cut water use
by 1.5 million acre-feet per year as long as Lake Powell and
Lake Mead’s combined storage remains at a certain level.
Much of California’s water supply originates in the Sierra
Nevada, making it dependent on the health of forests. But those
forests are suffering from widespread tree mortality and other
ecosystem degradation resulting mostly from the growing
frequency and severity of droughts and wildfires. On our
Headwaters Tour
July 24-25, we will visit Eldorado and Tahoe
national forests to learn about new forest management
practices, including wildfire prevention and recovery.
… The 2-day, 1-night tour with an
overnight in Lake Tahoe travels up the Sierra and
around Lake Tahoe to learn about upper watersheds and
the critical role they play in water supply and quality across
California. We will also discuss meadow restoration, climate
change, wildfire impacts and water quality.
Tucked between headline-grabbing opinions on presidential
immunity, Jan. 6 rioters and homeless encampments, the U.S.
Supreme Court closed out a momentous session late last month
with a series of body blows to the federal
bureaucracy. Under three back-to-back rulings, regulations
that touch nearly every aspect of the American economy and
American life (see: rules on food safety, water
quality, overtime pay, medical billing, carbon
emissions, fisheries monitoring and housing discrimination, to
name a few) may soon be harder to enforce, more convenient to
challenge in court and easier to strike down once challenged.
For the conservative legal movement and for major business
interests who bristle under what they see as an overreaching
federal regulatory apparatus, the rulings mark a
once-in-a-generation victory against the “administrative
state.” But in California, the effects of those rulings may be
a bit more muted, legal experts say. … From worker safeguards
to water regulations to LGBTQ-protections on
college campuses, the rules enforced by California state
agencies often meet and exceed the stringency of their federal
counterparts.
If the heat is sapping your will to live, most San Joaquin
Valley crops are right there with you. The blast furnace
weather has farmers irrigating in cycles, using more frequent
bursts, taking advantage of the coolest part of the day;
anything to get crops through to harvest But “it’s just too
damn hot,” said Kern County grower and farm manager Keith
Gardiner. “We’re trying to keep up but we can’t increase the
number of cycles. There’s only so much water we have access to.
We’re pretty much maxed out.” Gardiner grows his own almonds
and row crops, while his company, Pacific Ag Management manages
acreage for other farmers as well. Hot weather is nothing new
in the valley. But extreme heat for this long – especially the
high overnight temperatures – is putting crops through
significant stress, Gardiner said.
Unable to come to an agreement over what do to about widespread
pollution and threats to their employees while still treating
homeless people fairly, the board of Silicon Valley’s largest
water agency on Tuesday delayed a vote on a new ordinance to
ban camping along 295 miles of creeks in San Jose and other
parts of Santa Clara County. … The district,
a government agency based in San Jose, has spent $3.4 million
since July removing 15,050 cubic yards of debris — enough to
fill 1,500 dump trucks — from Coyote Creek, Guadalupe River,
Los Gatos Creek and other South Bay waterways.
To continue providing safe, clean, reliable tap water to
customers across the communities it serves, Cal Water yesterday
submitted Infrastructure Improvement Plans for its California
districts from 2025-2027 in its General Rate Case (GRC) filing
with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The
application also proposes a Low-Use Water Equity Program, which
would decouple revenue from water sales, to assist
low-water-using, lower-income customers. … Associated
rates set by the CPUC would become effective no sooner than
January 2026. In the plans, Cal Water proposes to invest more
than $1.6 billion in its districts from 2025-2027, including
approximately $1.3 billion of newly proposed capital
investments.
